Living On
by tobecomeahero
Summary: This is the story of how the Flower Girl and Hero, as they take their after-life journey to protect their beloved Cloud in effort to assist him in saving the Planet. Major angst with minor fluff. DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE COMPILATION OF FINAL FANTASY VII OR ANYTHING OF THE FRANCHISE. CREDIT TO THE ORIGINAL OWNERS.
1. The End

**~Prologue~ The End.**

Like a warm knife through butter, Masamune severed Aerith's spine and slipped through her body, feeling like a slap of sharp pain through Aerith's entire being. The shocking distress only lasted a moment, though, as her senses weakened, and eventually numbed.

"Aerith.." The familiar voice of Cloud Strife broke as the blow seemed to cut through him as well. She looked up to him, eyelids already feeling heavy, but her gaze focused on the ground once more as her killer removed his prized weapon from the dying body. Her embodiment fell, but was caught by Cloud.

He held her in his lap, his grip tight on her skin, as if to hold the life inside of her. "This can't be real!" Cloud half yelled, his mako-blue eyes wide in turbulent shock. The former SOLDIER stared at the damage done to his fallen friend, analyzing each detail- from how Aerith's bangs frayed, to the tweak in her questioning eyebrows, to the tear in her nice pink dress that was now stained in crimson.

Sephiroth spoke to Cloud, and Cloud snapped a reply back, but Aerith couldn't understand their words; the voices of the Planet seemed overwhelmingly loud now. She tried to hush the voices as her breath lightened, the weight on her chest becoming too heavy to regulate normal functions. Aerith could feel the weight of her blood as it settled in her appendages, but also how weightless her midsection seemed. The pressure of everything, blood and gravity, assisted in sliding her heavy eyelids shut when the hazy figure of a woman kneeled before her.

" _It's okay, my sweet daughter,"_ the woman, Ifalna, said as she placed her hands around Aerith's, giving them warmth. Her voice seemed to be mixed with the Planet's, but much closer, much more clear. " _You are safe now._ "

Like the drop of a marble into a silent lake, Aerith's final breath escaped her lips.

 _"There is someone who would like to see you, Aerith."_


	2. Back to Where It All Began

Aerith opened her eyes. The surroundings were dark. Not frightening, not cold- but a gentle warmth that cradled her, and she felt safe. Everything was silent. Aerith couldn't hear the normal drone of the Planet, but that slowly came back as the darkness became light. Gravity set in, and pulled Aerith from her cocoon of the Lifestream.

The church. She stood in front of her church in Sector 5, all the way back in the slums of Midgar. Aerith was acquainted with all the usual smells of dirt and filth that resided beneath the Plate, and was not-so-delightfully greeted with the shriek of a young girl who cried as her mother pulled her through the street.

Aerith looked down to her dress, pulling back each shred of her previous memory. _Praying,_ she thought. _I was praying. Cloud. He was there. Sephiroth.._ She began to walk up the stairs of the simple gothic church, entering its large mahogany-esque doors. _He came out of nowhere._

"He.. he killed me.." She mumbled aloud, her fingers cupping her chin as she was deep in thought. She walked with one foot in front of the other, walking along the floorboards like a tightrope, as she always did. "Why..am I not in the Lifestream? Or..am I?" Sighing, her hands dropped to her sides and her gaze moved upwards, to the holes in the ceiling. There was more light now, thanks to the ShinRa and the lives of thousands, since the Plate was dropped, crushing Sector 7.

Aerith's flowers thrived with the extra light. The amount of them seemed to have tripled, maybe even quadrupled, since she last saw them before she, Cloud and the others too, left Midgar. The lilies were glowing brighter, growing bigger, and smelled sweeter than ever before. _Maybe..could the flowers have been the lives of those lost as Sector 7 was obliterated? Just maybe_ , Aerith settled on.

The flower girl looked back down to the pure flower patch. She immediately took notice on a dark figure in the center of the sea of yellow and white. Only as she became closer to the flowers and the figure did Aerith slowly begin to recognize the figure, who was clad in the uniform of a SOLDIER 1st Class.

Lying on his back, the hero Zack rested his eyes with his hands beneath his head. When the footsteps stopped, he opened his mako-blue orbs to see who may be visiting the church this time.

He immediately sat up when he saw Aerith, the corners of his lips tugged upwards in his boyish grin, but the smile was not to last as he maintained eye contact with Aerith. Zack sucked in a breath, realizing, that she was there _with him._

"Aerith," Zack pushed himself onto his feet. "No, don't tell me.."

Aerith held her hands together and looked down, her lips folded in a straight little line. Her head bobbed down a little, her large green eyes observing Zack at his feet. She was at a loss of words. What could she say? 'Hello, Zack, nice to see you again,' 'It's been a while,' 'Why am I here?' The understanding of the situation began to sink in; she is dead. She left Cloud and everyone else behind. There is no going back.

Zack took a few steps closer to Aerith. He too, at a loss of words, reached back and scratched his head and neck. "I can't believe..you're really here.." _Damn it. Damn it all._

The green eyes slowly made contact again with the brilliant blue. "Zack," said Aerith in a soft voice. "I thought I'd never see you again.."

"And here we are," he attempted to keep her spirits, and his own, up by throwing in a little smile. "It's nice to be able to talk to you. And to get something in response." Zack's hands gently held Aerith's. Yet again his smile faded. "Are you okay?"

Aerith shook her head quickly, cheeks beginning to burn red. She swallowed the rock size lump that formed in her throat. "No," she said. "I left them- I left Cloud, and everyone else- Sephiroth was there! I left them!" Taking her hands from Zack's, she covered her face that would soon be damp with tears and sunk to her knees. Zack followed her downward. "I left them.. I can't help them anymore..!"

"Aerith, please," Zack put his hands on her shoulders with a firm grip. "I can't say that it is okay that you're here, but you know Cloud! He's.. He isn't weak anymore, you know that. They can handle themselves for now."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better? I can't ever help, ever again! I can't be there, I can't fight with them, I can't protect them.." Her shoulders shook as the tears flowed form her eyes and caught in her hands. "I can't do any-" Zack pulled her into his arms. He held her tightly.

Zack moved to Aerith's immediate side, so she could comfortably lean into his embrace, and held her as she cried. He didn't say anything; he only rubbed her back. When she finally calmed down, Zack pulled himself away from her and lightly wiped her tears off her soaked cheeks. "You can still help, you know.."

Aerith sniffled, exhausted from breaking down. "How so..?"

"Well, I speak to Cloud. Try to help him out here and there." Zack huffed, looking away. His expression was that of a puppy who was ordered to not do something it would have done for being innocent and curious. "He listens. Sometimes. He's up there on my list of most stubborn people in the world."

The comment made Aerith smile. She leaned on Zack again. "He does that.."

"So I'm not the only one who thinks that. Good to know!" He chuckled and put his arm around Aerith. "Maybe _you_ can get through to him. I know he has a soft spot for you."

The flower girl giggled a little as she brushed her bangs off her damp face. "Maybe," she agreed.

There was a short silence between the two. Zack felt pain in his chest. Though he is finally able to talk to, to hold, the woman he loves, it doesn't feel right. She didn't live a full life. Her right to grow old was stolen away. She's just as experienced as Zack, and the same age he was when he died all those years ago. Zack broke the silence.

"You...said Sephiroth was there?"

Aerith slowly nodded, looking out to her flowers.

"Did he.. Was he the one who..?" Zack couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.

She nodded again, slower than the first. "He came out of nowhere. I..didn't expect him to be right there."

A low grunt emitted from Zack's throat. "Dammit," he sighed. "That bastard.." He cursed the once-great General, whom he had looked up to for his incredible strength and powerful charisma. Zack noticed Aerith's discomfort. "I won't ask anything more."

Aerith looked up to him, slightly relieved that she wouldn't have to recall the moment of her death. Though she couldn't see Cloud or understand him as she was held in his arms, she could feel his body racked and shaking, and she could feel the vibrations of the few words he yelled. She had never seen Cloud fall apart like so, and the sight of him so vulnerable hurt more than any damage Sephiroth's mighty Masamune could ever inflict. "It just happened too fast," she sighed.

"That always seems to be the case, huh," Zack sighed lightly. He stood up, the floorboards squeaking under the shift in his weight. Aerith stood with him. "Ah, if only we could go back and fix one thing.."

Aerith walked into her flower bed, not realizing Zack walking the opposite direction, up the aisle. She opened her mouth to say something, turning to look at Zack, but decided to run after him. "Hey, what's wrong?" She asked as she caught up, knowing there was something he hid. Even after all the years, she could read Zack better than anyone ever did. "Zack?"

He walked with hooked thumbs into the pockets of his SOLDIER-issued black fatigues. "I wish I made it back to you," was all he said.

Aerith sighed and hooked her hand around Zack's wrist. She tugged him gently to a halt at the doors of the church. "Did you get any of my letters?"

He shook the mess of black hair. "Only the last, thanks to the Angeal copy," he softly exhaled. If he was able to reply to any of them, or see them at the least, he would feel different. He feels guilt gnawing in his stomach, for letting her on for four years, without giving her knowledge of his whereabouts. He fears she believes he blew her off. All he could say was, "I'm sorry."

Aerith hummed a little. "Don't worry about it for now, okay?" _We don't have to talk about that right now, I guess._ She started to walk, opening the heavy door with much force, a small grunt sounded from her throat as the door gave way. "What are we going to do?"

"Go on an adventure." Zack said with a joking laugh. Just a casual response that slips out of his lips from time to time before he could think too hard on it. "Uh, maybe we can go find Cloud? Get you to talk to him?" He suggested as he slid his hand around hers. Their fingers slowly twined together. "If you're up to it, that is."

The two walked down the steps of the church and began to make way down the crowded street that would somehow, in someway lead to a form of exit from the slums of the metropolis of Midgar. Aerith nodded in agreement. "You know, I think that's a good idea," she hummed.

 _But,_ Aerith thought, _it's only been an hour since...that happened. If I see Cloud, or Tifa, or anyone cry, I'll end up crying again._ As her cheeks pouted out, her gaze focused to the unpaved ground, her boots lightly kicking pebbles out of the way. It's such an abstract thought; crying due to the sight of your friends mourning over your own death. Knowing the reality of living as a spirit- a being who is not seen by any human being, someone who can not communicate with those still living- made Aerith feel like an enigma. Sure, though, as she was alive, she could occasionally see the roaming spirits, but they only appeared in dim flashes of light and never lasted more than a second. Being one of them now was a huge idea even for the mind of the last Cetra to grasp around.


End file.
